A Relational Psychoanalytic Approach to Couples Psychotherapy
Instructor
Dr. Philip A. Ringstrom, Ph.D., Psy.D.
1-day in-person Seminar
Saturday, May 10, 2025
9:30am – 4:30pm
Location
The Alamo Psychotherapy and Training
6401 Ruby Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90042
6 CEs offered for qualifying professionals. Lunch provided.
Course fee
$275 for licensed therapists
$225 for pre-licensed and students
Join us for this immersive, in-person seminar where Dr. Philip A. Ringstrom, Ph.D., Psy.D., will guide clinicians through his innovative 6-step approach to relational psychoanalytic work with couples. This all-day intensive workshop combines theoretical foundations with practical applications, case presentations, and collaborative discussion.
Whether you're an experienced therapist or newer to the field, this seminar offers valuable insights into the complex dimensions of couples counseling through a relational psychoanalytic lens. Dr. Ringstrom will explore essential themes including:
Self-actualization within intimate relationships
The dynamics of mutual recognition
Understanding "the relationship having a mind of its own"
Throughout the day, we'll examine each of the six interlocking steps of Dr. Ringstrom's technique and develop a deeper understanding of both symmetrical and asymmetrical approaches to couples work. You'll leave with fresh perspectives on the transferences at play in couples therapy and renewed curiosity and engagement with your couples clients.
Dr. Ringstrom's approach fills an important gap in contemporary psychoanalysis by offering a comprehensively relational framework for psychoanalytically oriented couples treatment. His model integrates ideas from numerous relational psychoanalytic thinkers while also drawing from other psychoanalytic traditions and social sciences.
The workshop will explore how developmental histories, gender, culture, and dissociated self-states impact couples dynamics, and provide practical strategies for facilitating self-actualization, mutual recognition, and relationship renegotiation. Dr. Ringstrom will illustrate his approach with rich case material drawn from over thirty years of clinical practice.
Suggested advance reading:
Ringstrom, P. (2014) A Relational Psychoanalytic Approach to Couples Psychotherapy. Routledge Press.
Learning Objectives
Participants will describe the three organizing themes: self-actualization in an intimate relationship, mutual recognition, and the “relationship having a mind of its own” as they relate to self-experiencing in complex non-linear systems.
Participants will describe how the three themes of self-actualization in an intimate relationship, mutual recognition, and the “relationship having a mind of its own,” are practiced in terms of the model’s six steps.
Participants will describe the first three steps of the therapeutic model – the symmetrical approach.
Participants will describe the second three steps of the therapeutic model – the asymmetrical approach.
Participants will recognize the modifications in psychoanalytic technique in conjoint therapy in light of the perspective shift toward the asymmetrical approach of the relational turn.
Participants will articulate both the advantages and limitations that may arise from this shift in perspective encompassed by an asymmetrical approach.
Instructor Credentials
Philip Ringstrom, Ph.D., Psy.D. is a Senior Training and Supervising Analyst and Faculty Member at the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, in Los Angeles, California,where he is also in full time private practice. He is a founding member of the Board of Directors of IARPP, and a member of the International Council of Self-Psychologists. He is on the editorial boards of Psychoanalytic Dialogues, Psychoanalytic Perspectives and Psychoanalysis: Self and Context. He has published over 60 articles, chapters, and reviews and has presented at conferences all over the world. His book A Relational Psychoanalytic Approach to Couples Therapy (Routledge 2014) won the Goethe Award for best book in psychoanalysis for 2014.
For more information or questions contact us at thealamoprograms@gmail.com
Refund policy: Participants seeking a refund can email us at thealamoprograms@gmail.com at least 15 days before the first meeting. Refunds requested 15 days or earlier will receive 100% refund. 14-7 days prior, participants are eligible for a 50% refund. No refund will be provided 6 days prior or less.
Course certificates awarded at the end of the course upon receipt of completed form.
Course meets the qualifications for 6 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
The Alamo Psychotherapy and Training is a dba of Michelle Harwell Therapy, nad is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (Provider #) to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs. Michelle Harwell Therapy maintains responsibility for this course and its content.
No known conflict of interest or commercial support for Michelle Harwell Therapy, The Alamo Psychotherapy and Training, or the instructor.
Contact Us
To request accommodations for special needs, obtain the grievance policy, report a grievance, request a refund, request more information about the course, or if you have general questions, please email us at thealamoprograms@gmail.com